Mensch of the month for Tevet

Please join me in congratulating Caleb Friedman, our mensch of the month for Tevet! Mazel tov!

Monday, Jan. 26

On Monday, the students continued their study of Hebrew by working on Ramah 4 of Mitkadem. Please remember to have them read Hebrew 5 minutes/day, 5 days/week. If they need more resources, they can go here. If they need to complete the "read with the tape" section, they can go here.
They also read the story from Kings "A Father's Sorrow and Love," about the reconciliation of David and Absalom. We discussed how we can have conflicting feelings about people, which can include both hate and love.
Please note that this Shabbat, the students will be leading Jr. Congregation. We hope to see you there!
This week is our FINAL chance to collect donations for our MSPCA supply drive! We are very close to our goal of 50 items and just need a few more things:
Timothy Hay
Hand Sanitizer
Catnip
Pens
Other office supplies
Thank you in advance for your support!

Thursday, Jan. 22

On Thursday, the students prepared for our Shabbat dinner together by learning the Friday night prayers and decorating their "Shabbat Dinner guides," which are theirs to take home and keep.
It was great to see everyone who came to the dinner last night. Thank you so much for contributing and helping to make it a success!
The students also spent some time Thursday working on Mitkadem. Many of them are almost done with Ramah 4! Please remember to have them read Hebrew 5 minutes/day, 5 days/week. If they need more resources, they can go here. If they need to complete the "read with the tape" section, they can go here.
Next week is our FINAL chance to collect donations for our MSPCA supply drive! We are very close to our goal of 50 items and just need a few more things:
Timothy Hay
Hand Sanitizer
Catnip
Pens
Other office supplies
Thank you in advance for your support!

Thursday, Jan. 15

On Thursday, the students completed their activity packets for the story from the book of Kings, "Hatred Between Brothers." They also spent a chunk of time practicing the prayers L'Cha Adonai, for the Torah service, and Yismechu, for the Musaf service. They next lead Jr. Congregation on Jan. 31--please save the date!
There are a few upcoming dates to remember:

• Monday, Jan. 19--no KIRS, MLK Jr. Day
• Thursday, Jan. 22--regular KIRS day. Parshat Vaera assignment and Mitkadem reading are due.
• Friday, Jan. 23--Kitah Dalet-Hei Shabbat dinner at 5:30 PM in Novakoff. Looking forward to seeing you there!
• Shabbat, Jan. 31--last day to collect MSPCA donations. Kitah Dalet-Hei leads Jr. Congregation.

As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Monday, Jan. 12

On Monday, the students applied what they had been learning in Ramah 4 to real-life situations. They practiced blessings over candles, food, and played a vocabulary game. They sound great! Please remember that they should be reading Hebrew 5 minutes/day, 5 days/week and recording it on their Mitkadem reading record. If they need more resources, you can find some here or here.
They also continued reading the book of Kings, with the story "Hatred Between Brothers." We talked about why we fight with our siblings or close friends, but also how we make up with them. Unfortunately, our story of Amnon and Absalom did not have such a happy ending.
Please note that due to the Martin Luther King Jr., Day holiday we will not have class next Monday, Jan. 19. The students' Parshat HaShavua assignments on Vaeira will be due on Thursday, Jan. 22. If they have not turned in their assignment for Parshat Shemot, please make sure they do so this Thursday, Jan. 15.

Thursday, Jan. 8

It was a busy day in Kitah Dalet-Hei on Thursday. The students first completed their activity packets for the story from Kings, "The Sword Shall not Leave Your House." We discussed how David was a complicated man, and they ways we are like or unlike him.
We then began learning the prayer "L'cha Adonai." If your child wishes to practice at home, you can find a recording here. I am looking forward to seeing the 4th graders lead the Torah service on Feb. 28 and the 5th graders lead Musaf on March 14 in the Main Sanctuary!
Finally, the students created several cat toys to donate to the MSPCA. I'm sure the kitties will be very grateful! Please remember that we are still collecting donations for our MSPCA drive to learn about "Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh b'Zeh." A wish list of items can be found here.
For Monday, please make sure your child has the following materials prepared:

• Practice reading Hebrew 5 min/day, 5 days/week, and record this on their Mitkadem reading records. 
• Cut out and organize both the purple and orange flashcards from Ramah 4.
• Our first "Parshat HaShavua" assignment, on Shemot, is due Monday. This can be found in the homework section of their binders.

Thank you!

Monday, Jan. 5, 2015

It was great to have everyone back in Kitah Dalet-Hei yesterday! We started the afternoon off working on Ramah 4 of Mitkadem. The students are making great progress in their work. Please remember that they should be reading Hebrew at least 5 minutes/day, 5 days/week. In addition, starting this week, students will be responsible for reading and analyzing the Parshat HaShavua (weekly Torah portion). This assignment will be due every Monday. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

We then began a new unit, a study of the book of Kings. The students read about King David, and discussed his many challenges and contradictions. We will continue reading this text throughout the spring semester.

I am pleased to announce that many of our students' projects, virtual museums on ancient artifacts, can be seen on Youtube. Please visit this link to check them out!

Please join me in wishing Sam Corman, our Mensch of the Month for Kislev, Mazel Tov!

Welcome-back reminder

Looking forward to seeing everyone back in Kitah Dalet-Hei tomorrow! Please make sure that students' have completed their assignment:

"Over break, please make sure that the students are reading Hebrew 5 minutes/day, 5 days/week, or an average of 25 minutes/week. They can read from the Kriah section of their Ramot. In addition, please have them cut out and organize (in a baggie or with a rubber band) the purple and orange flash cards for Ramah 4. Studying the words therein can count towards their reading requirement. Please make sure to record these on the students' Mitkadem reading records, as this has fallen by the wayside for some of our students recently."

Thank you!